Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef

Fellow snorkelers in the clear turquoise water

G'day!

I'm writing about my Cairns snorkeling trip while we wait for Stephanie's blogs.  While Steph was on a 3 day/2 night diving trip, I took a day trip.  There are heaps of outfits offering day or live aboard trips with options that include cruises, diving, snorkeling, glass bottom boats, and/or submersibles.  Some have boats or platforms anchored in the ocean, some have exclusive rights to specific islands.   I eventually chose to go out on Passions of Paradise.

Dive gear.  Maybe one day...

During the hour and a half ride out to Paradise Reef, I sat through introductory lessons on snorkeling and scuba diving.  I thought that I might try the 10 minute intro dive.  It's included in the base price ($139) if you choose to go up when the dive master asks whether you want to continue or not.  If you choose to continue, it's $70.  All beginners hold onto a rope and everything is done in slow stages with a good crew to diver ratio, so I felt that I would be safe.  But I was in the 3rd dive group so I went snorkeling first.

Angelfish

I rented a wet suit ($7) cuz I don't like cold water and they said the water was 24* C (76* F - anything below 85* is cold to me).  I put on my snorkel and fins.   I also put a floatie around my waist as many others were doing and then went down the ladder at the back of the boat.  Yipes! the sea was choppy and the waves were high, much higher than I'd ever been in.  But I let go of the ladder and grabbed onto the donut life preserver that Maia was gonna tow around.

Christmas tree worms on lunar coral

There were already 2 people on it but that was okay.  Then 3 or 4 others grabbed on.  I didn't feel comfortable with so many waves pushing me around and sometimes going over my head, so I (bravely) let go of the donut and swam about 12 feet back to the boat.

 Another crew member helped me up and then told me that Maia was going to tow me and only 1-2 others.  He told me I needed to get back into the water and that I wouldn't be sorry.  So I did and I wasn't.  I saw a wide variety of fish and coral and anemone.  And a sea turtle!  And blue Christmas tree worms, and a long sea cucumber and ....   Maia towed us around for about 40 minutes (seemed like a loooong time).

I found Nemo!! Actually, I saw heaps of clown fish

I've been snorkeling twice before, in Kuaui and Jamaica, but the water was much warmer and calm in both places.  Although the scenery was just as magical, the experience was very different.  I had to keep clearing the snorkel;  I must not have the mouthpiece in properly.  Actually, I found out later, the waves were breaking over us and getting into the snorkel;  I must have drank at least a pint of sea water. And I got a whole bunch of bruises from being tossed against the boat while getting on and off.

Then it was time for scuba diving.  I could either try diving or go snorkeling again after lunch; I have problems with my jaw (TMJ) and it was already hurting.  Since I had just gotten out of the water and was tired, I decided to skip the diving.

I love these blue damselfish near the finger coral

After a lovely lunch we could either take the glass bottom boat ($20) to the beach at Michaelmas Cay or snorkel.  Michaelmas Cay is inner reef and the water is much calmer so I decided to make the most of my time and snorkel.  I snorkeled all by myself (with an extra floatie in my hands) to the white sand beach.   It was really cool to swim through schools of fish and I found Nemo! (or his cousins) hiding in the anemone.  My favorites were the blue and green parrotfish and wrasses and the little various colored damselfish and all the different shapes of coral.

Glass bottom boat picking up at Michaelmas Cay

The tide was low so in a few places the reef poked up above the water.  I was careful not to kick anything in shallow water.  But at one point, I stopped to get a good look at something and got pushed into the reef by the current.  I had to use my hand to push against some very mucousy anemone to get off the reef.

I rested in the shallows and watched the birds on the island sanctuary for a little while before snorkeling back to the boat.  After feeding the fish for a photo op, we sailed back into port.  It's my first time sailing with a sail but on a boat this large, I couldn't tell the difference between the engine and the sail.

Mother boat towing 5 boatlings?

Tips I was told that helped:  take sea sick pills before and during the trip and look at the horizon.  Bring a warm sweatshirt (jumper) cuz it gets cold on the ocean.  Bring $ for snacks and drinks and wetsuit/camera rentals.  All underwater photos were taken by Stephanie Goldsby. I had enough to do overcoming my fear of deep water.

Sailing home on Passions of Paradise

I had a great day on and in the water.  The crew on Passions was terrific: personal, aware and attentive, encouraging and helpful.  You gotta go!

Cheers!
Cyn

Cabbage coral

Butterflyfish and various coral

Dolphins in Paihia

Bottlenose dolphins - Flipper

Kia ora!

Got a ride back to Auckland with my host and immediately took a bus (4 hours) up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands.  There's only one main road up and down and it was very heavily travelled. I don't know why we were in so many traffic jams.  It's a long commute to Auckland and I was travelling during the last week in May, late autumn, and it wasn't during school holiday. They were widening the road so that it'll be two lanes in each direction most of the way, but I don't think that's the whole reason.

The dolphin's peeking at us while bow riding

Any way, it rained the night I arrived so I didn't explore.  The next morning, I went on the 4 hour Hole in the Rock dolphin cruise ($159 value, free on my InterCity FlexiTrip pass) and saw lots of bottle nose (Flipper) dolphins in 2 separate pods.

The dolphins were curious and stuck around a  while each time.  Although some of them jumped or spinned into the air, the crew determined that they were not in a playful mood and do not allow the swimming with the dolphins option ($30). Some of the bottlenose dolphins rode the bow.  It's amazing how fast they can swim.  We also saw fur seals, cormorants, gulls and other birds.

Camping available at the Bay of Islands

There's an old lighthouse and keeper cottage on the far tip of the mainland.  The cottage is available for camping but it's a day's walk to get there.  Other options are to arrive in a boat or helicopter.  Of course it's a beautiful site with gorgeous scenery, but there is no potable water source and no services available.
The cruise took us past 12 islands, large and small.  One of the furthest that we saw had a natural tunnel.  Since the wave action was normal, our skipper went through the Hole in the Rock.  There was not much clearance on either side.  If the wave action is too violent, the boats don't go through.

The Hole in the Rock

 People are not allowed on most of the islands because of potential erosion and the presence of rookeries.  A Maori man was on board to offer a one hour Maori lecture and guided walk ($15) on the largest island.  I considered joining the group but the sky looked ominous.  About 20 minutes after we dropped them off, it started tipping it down (pouring rain).

Paihia is a wee small town with one big and one small supermarkets, lots of little eateries and tourist shops.  Art exhibits are at the Wharf/transit center and the Public Library. Two Maori women were at the library weaving flax leaves into flower shapes.  They wanted me to tell them about California because they didn't think they would ever get there.

It was cold windy and sunny, then.....

Auckland has a population of more that 1.3 million, about a third of NZ's total population.  I was in and out of Auckland over three days with only one showery day to see the sights.   The free City Circuit bus was good for a 30 minute orientation.  I explored the CBD and wharf areas by foot, pretty but nothing spectacular.
The hostels in the middle of the CBD did not rate very well so I stayed at Freeman Lodge, about a 10-15 walk away.  The Link buses ($1.80) conveniently travel through the closest suburbs.

I would have liked to have had more time on North Island's Bay of Island and Coromandel coasts to watch sand surfing on the dunes of 9 Mile Beach, make my own spa at Hot Water Beach, and do some tramping.  If I had more time, I would have also gone to see the glow worm caves of Waitomo, the gardens of Hamilton, and the craters and flora of Mt Taranaki.

One of the smaller islands in the Bay of Islands

So I think that there is lots to see and do on North Island. If you go, I would recommend splitting your time evenly between the North and South Islands of New Zealand.  And you just gotta go.

Cheers!
Cyn

The Waterworks in Coromandel

Coromandel Peninsula

Kia ora!

One last wwoofing job in NZ.  BTW, for us Americans, the pronunciation of NZ is "En zed".   The contraction is used regularly in speech, even by locals.  This wwoof job is at The Waterworks, in Coromandel.  To get there from Rotorua by InterCity bus I had to go to Auckland (5 hours) where I stayed a couple of days.  From Auckland, I took a bus to Thames (2 hours) where I transferred to the Coromandel bus (1 hour).


The drive between Thames and Coromandel is rated the second most beautiful in NZ.  (#1 is on South Island; I'd bet it's between Te Anau and Milford.)  This part of the Pacific Coast Highway twists and turns and goes way up and down, like the Devils Slide area in NorCal.  Pohutukawa (NZ Christmas tree, Meterosideros) line part of the drive, spectacular with their red blooms in December/January.  Heaps of cormorants, heaps of islands.  If you're real lucky, you can see whales, dolphin, or seals.  We didn't.

The bus driver stopped several times for photo ops and showed us a gold mine entrance on the road.  We saw trees snapped like matchsticks caused by high winds several weeks ago  (North Island had tornado activity in early April?).  Heavy rains during the same storm caused many rock and landslides.  The road was closed for four days to clear one gigantic slippage and to repave the road.

"Slim Turner"

I finally asked someone why the grass on even the steepest hills looked mowed.  I'd noticed the same thing in the American countryside but it didn't really register.  Lately, after seeing the neatly cropped hillsides for miles and miles and miles on end, the question niggled at me.   Answer: the sheep and cattle make tracks when grazing and keep using the same tracks.  I had suspected that; it was the only logical answer.

I was met by Jeff, my host, in Coromandel Town whose CBD is 4 blocks long.  We drove onto the "famed" 309 Road, so named because it took 309 minutes to traverse in the olden days - I don't know!?!, past Stuart's Place - where Stuart informally provides sanctuary and food for wild pigs in the area, to The Waterworks.

The Waterworks is an amusement park, a really different kind of park.  The guiding theme is recycling or reuse.    A billabong ram, a vacuum driven pump I first learned about on Bruny Island, is situated in a creek in the carpark.   Water pumped from the creek powers many of the exhibits; no electricity is used on the many contraptions that move continuously.

Some exhibits are educational teaching about physics, electricity, or ecology.  Some of them are just pure whimsy.  Many are interactive and involve water and sometimes getting wet.  One of the simplest is boat racing using boats cut from old plastic containers. The  narrow (6") wooden course  ranges through a section of the park and includes zig zags and triangular block dams that competitors can use to slow water flow.

Flying bikes

There are rides too.   Most of the rides are constucted using salvaged parts, many from automobiles and bicycles.  Some are basic like seesaws, swings and turntables. There are two flying foxes; I braved the smaller one - wheeeee!  The Mousetrap mousewheel was fun, too.   One ride involves bicycling to generate pressure for water cannons.

I really like the idea of using salvaged material to make something new.  There was one sculpture that welded kitchen utensils into a vase full of flowers.  Jeff was interested in seeing my welded sculptures and offered to exhibit and sell them if I sent them out to him.  I hope I can exhibit and sell them a little closer to home.

Alpacas - their poo don't stink

I had mentioned in my WWOOF profile that I wanted some animal experience.  Well I got it here with the Waterworks' livestock.  Not exactly what I meant but....  I shovelled alpaca poop from a paddock into a wheelbarrow and then spread it out on garden beds.  I cleaned the hen house by raking up all the old straw and dumping it onto the compost heap.  I helped catch and bag 14 ducks for relocation to Stuart's sanctuary.  All I had to do with the 2 huge pigs was feed them.  Thank goodness!  Surprisingly, none of the jobs were as stinky or unpleasant as I had expected.  I think that I might be adjusting to farmwork.  Is that a good thing?

 Coromandel mussel harvesters

Primary industries besides tourism in The Coromandel are mussel and oyster farming.  Most of the mussels and oysters are exported worldwide.  The oysters are closer to shore on the mudflats while the green lipped mussels are in several coves.  Baby mussels are attached to ropes that dangle between mussel floats in the ocean water.  When they reach harvest size, the harvesting boat hauls the ropes of mussels up and cuts them off onto a conveyor belt where they are sorted.  The mussels are huge and delicious.

NZ green lipped mussels

Fish like to eat mussels and congregate near the mussel boat.  Cormorants and sea gulls and sometimes other wildlife are attracted by the fish.  So are fishermen, including me and Jeff. We went out at dawn one morning and tied up near a mussel boat that was harvesting.  We caught a whole lot of snapper and a few small mackeral, keeping our legal limit of 18 snapper 26 cm (10") or larger.

We used pieces of fish as bait; I'm glad we didn't have live worms or such.  I enjoyed reeling the fish in, pulling the pole tip up and winding as I let the tip down.  I did not like taking the hook out of the fish's mouth and refused to look as Jeff killed the fish.  Thankfully, Jeff took pity on me and did not make me clean or fillet the fish.  I did eat the fish.  Yum!

Snapper caught by ME!

We fished for about 4 hours, moving 3 times to stay close to the mussel boat.  When we were done, the boat wouldn't work properly.  My bad luck on boats continues.   While the engine idled fine, it kept cutting out as soon as it was put into gear.  Jeff kept turning the engine over.  I wouldn't have minded paddling in but there were no oars.  After about a half hour, he considered waving someone down and getting towed in.  But there wasn't anyone within hailing distance.  A short time later, mysteriously, the engine stayed on.  We made it back to shore in a few minutes.  I like fishing; I don't like small boats.

I would have liked to have gotten to Hot Water Beach in Whitianga, 30 minutes drive away, but I didn't have time or transporation.  Apparently, you can dig a hole in the dark sand, making your own hot water spa on the beach.  Also, The Coromandel is a creative hub and during May, many artists have open studios.  Ah well, I can't do everything.

Cheers!
Cyn